The Reversed Time
by Sync-XiN
Summary: The Winter War had ended. Aizen was able to make the King's Key and turned both worlds into such a big mess. However, Ichigo found a way to stop Aizen; to reverse the time. Will Ichigo be able to stop Aizen? My first fic! R&R please...
1. Chapter 1

Well, this is my first fic. I'm sorry if I make a lot of mistakes. xD

**Disclaimer: **I don't own bleach; Tite Kubo does. *hail him* :o

To the story...

Enjoy!

**

* * *

The Beginning**

The "Winter War" had ended. On that fateful night, all but Kurosaki Ichigo was killed by Aizen. All plans, including the "Fake Karakura Town", was failed and Aizen succeeded in making The King's Key. Three days later, Aizen was able to make his way to The Royal House and slay The Spirit King, the king of Soul Society. He turned Soul Society into such a big mess.

And now, ten years had passed since the tragedy occured.

"F-Finally!" said an orange-haired man with amber colored eyes.

"I've spent 10 years, travelling all over the world, just to find this place…"

That man was Kurosaki Ichigo, the only shinigami survivor from the "Winter War".

"Just wait, Aizen. After all that you have done to my friends, I'll make sure that you won't die without suffering. Ishida, Orihime, Chad, Rukia…"

...

###

"Riiiing"

"Uggghhh…" groaned a 15 years old teenager with an orange hair while trying to turn his alarm off.

He was Kurosaki Ichigo, a normal high school student. There are some things unique about him though. The first one was his ability of seeing ghosts, while the other one is his orange hair.

It was such a peaceful morning. Well, at least for now.

...

"Gooood morniiing Ichig-!" Isshin yelled. But before he could finish his words, Ichigo had already planted his fist on his father's face.

"Geez, can't you stop doing this for even once?" growled the teenager.

"Nooo~! Masaki~! Our son has grown into a violent teenager," cried Isshin while both looking at his wife's photograph and using some overly-dramatic movements.

Ichigo sighed.

Isshin was Ichigo's father. He used to be a shinigami several years ago, when his wife was still alive. Ichigo didn't know this fact though. All that he knew was that Isshin was such an annoying father. Isshin yelled and broke through his door every morning, just to wake him up, which is, useless (his alarm always woke him up first).

Ignoring his father, Ichigo looked at his alarm clock. It was 06.30 a.m.

"Oh, crap!" yelled Ichigo. He kicked his father out of his room, took a bath, and got ready to go to school.

"Onii-saan! The breakfast is ready."

"Yeah, I'll be right there" Ichigo replied

After having his breakfast, Ichigo got out from the house and ran as fast as he could.

"Damn! I must hurry or I'll be late for school," he groaned.

###

"Goood morniiing Ichigooo!" yelled Keigo, while jumping towards him. Fortunately, Ichigo managed to dodge, and let the other teenager fell to the floor.

"Ichigoo, you are soo meaan!" yelled Keigo, again.

Ignoring his friend, Ichigo walks towards the other teenager. The calm teenager was Mizuiro Kojima, one of Ichigo's classmates.

"Ohayou, Mizuiro," greeted Ichigo as he headed to the classroom

"Ohayou"

"Whaa-? Ichigooo, don't ignore me!" yelled Keigo, for the third time.

"Oh come on, don't get too worked up, **Asano-san**" Mizuiro smirked as he follow Ichigo to the classroom.

"Noo~! Don't call me asano-san! It's driving me crazy!" cried the other teenager while moving over-dramatically.

###

"Now open your book page…"

'_Sigh...This is such a boring day. I hope something interesting will—wait. What IS that?'_

Ichigo saw a girl of his age, a midget one, in black hakama and white shihakusou, fighting a...monster-like masked creature with a katana.

'_R-Rukia…'_

His eyes widened.

In a few seconds, the midget managed to get to the creature's back.

"Hadou 31: Shakkahou!"

A blast of red light, unexpectedly, came out of the midget's hand. The creature was hit by the red light, and began disintegrating.

'_Wh-what the hell was that? No one seems to notice the explosion though. Is that means that she is a…ghost?'_ Ichigo gaped in disbelief. _'And how can I know her name? I haven't even seen her before. '_

"Kurosaki-kun, are you all right? You look pale..." said the girl. It was Inoue Orihime, a brown eyed teenager with burnt orange hair, similar to Ichigo's.

"I-Its nothing." he replied, trembling.

###

* * *

**Translation:**

**Onii-san: **Older brother**; Ohayou: **Good Morning

**

* * *

**Sorry for the mistakes I've done...xD  
Like I've mentioned before, this is my first time writing a fic, so please bare with me

Well, see you in the next chapter~

Ah, I forgot something...

**Please press the review button below! **xD

See ya


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews...  
And for hitsugayatoshirou1220, u'll find out soon ;)

**Disclaimer: **I don't, didn't, and won't own bleach. Tite Kubo does...

Now, to the story...

* * *

**The Watcher**

**

* * *

**

"_Do you want... to save your family?"_

"_Of course, is there a way?"_

"_You...must become a Shinigami. Thrust this zanpakutou through your heart...and I'll pour my powers into you. I don't know whether this will work or not, but there isn't any other way."_

"_...Gimme the sword, shinigami."_

"_I'm not shinigami. I'm Kuchiki Rukia."_

"_I'm..."

* * *

_

"...ro...ki ...go"

"Kurosaki Ichigo!" yelled a female teacher. "I know that this is the last period, but that doesn't mean that you can just sleep like that."

"Uh..." he opened his eyes. _'What was that? A dream?' _The orange haired teenager lost in his thought. _'Kuchiki Rukia...Was she the girl I saw this morning? A Shinigami?'_

"Hoi Ichigo, are you listening?" the teacher asked, unsure.

"Uh...y-yes? Of course I was listening. Haha..." lied the teenager

"...really?" A grin, an evil one, appeared on her face, "then you should be able to repeat my words, right?"

"Ah...uh...t-that's..."

"I see. Kurosaki Ichigo, now STAND OUTSIDE THE CLASS!" she yelled furiously

Ichigo let out a sigh as he walked towards the door. _"Damn! Thanks to that 'shinigami' girl..." _he mumbled.

"Did you say something, Kurosaki?" the teacher asked, shooting a killing glare to the poor teenager.

"Uh...n-nothing" he answered, trying to give his best smile.

###

'_Sigh...what a day. What was that dream, anyway? It feels so nostalgic. And that girl...how can I know her name?' _he thought.

It was a dark, peaceful night. Ichigo was lying on his bed, thinking about what he saw this morning, and his dream, of course. He closed his eyes...when suddenly, he heard a voice.

"_What are you doing, Kurosaki Ichigo?"_

"Huh?" he opened his eyes. His surrounding was pitch black. He couldn't even saw his own hands. All that he knew was that someone was speaking. **A girl** was speaking.

"_You still have something to do, am I right? To take the life of a man who killed your friends: Aizen."_

"A-aizen?" he said, half whispering. His heart beat faster upon hearing the name."W-who are you?"

"_I am The Watcher."_

"Watcher? What are you talking about? What **are** you?" he asked, confused.

"_I am the one chosen to help you fulfill your goal, and make sure that you do not break the agreement."_

"Agreement? What agreement?"

"_I am afraid that I may not speak beyond this. Till we meet again..."_

"Hey, wait!" the teenager exclaimed. The next thing he knew was that he was already in his room. "Damn! What...was that?" he breathed heavily. "Another dr-"

-Boom!-

A very loud explosion-like sound can be heard. Ichigo rushed downstairs, hoping that his family: his father and sisters were alright.

"W-what the hell is happening here?" Ichigo gaped in disbelief.

He found the clinic's wall had fallen apart. And the culprit, he assumed, was a huge monster-like, masked creature, similar with the one he saw earlier. The different were the shape of the mask, and the size of the creature. The one Ichigo saw earlier is smaller.

"Huh?" he snapped back to reality upon seeing a body, soaked with blood. His eyes widened, "that's...the girl!"

* * *

Well, the story is similar with the original one, I know. But it's just the beginning, so please be patient...xD

And oh, **please review~!**

See ya...**  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own bleach, Tite Kubo does.

To the story...

* * *

**The Shinigami and the Teenager**

"Huh?" he snapped back to reality upon seeing a body, soaked with blood. His eyes widened, "that's...the girl!"

The masked one let out a monstrous growl and lifted its right hand, clenched, ready to crush the midget Shinigami. Without thinking any further, Ichigo rushed towards the monstrous being. With a chair he picked up earlier, he hit its left leg as hard as he could. Letting out another growl, the creature swung its left hand, knocked the teenager several meters away. The fifteen years old teenager groaned in pain due to the strike he had just received. The creature, however, began to fade away along with the darkness of the night.

"_Wh-what the? It's running away?" _he murmured. "Oh right, the girl..."

He got up and approached the body while occasionally letting out another painful groan. He let out a long sigh as he scrutinized the body carefully, hoping to find any signs of life from the dying body.

"Ugh...I let my guard down..."

A voice, the girlish one, could be heard. It was the midget. She stabbed her katana, used it to support herself. She then lifted her body, trying to get up. Unfortunately, having no energy left to do so, she failed miserably to the ground.

"H-hey, are you ok?" the concerned teenager finally spoke up.

"Of course I'm not, baka!" the violet eyed one snapped, trying to lean her body against the wall. Her reply succeeded in making Ichigo sweatdropped.

'_Geez...Is she really dying?' _he thought. Snapped back to reality, he began speaking, "by the way, what **is **that freakin' monster? And what are you? A Shinigami?"

The violet eyes widened upon hearing the word "Shinigami".

"H-how do you know?" she answered in astonishment.

'_So...it's right. The dream wasn't all lie after all.' _He thought."I'll tell you later. So, what is that monster?"

Releasing a sigh of defeat, the Shinigami answered, "It's called Hollow."

"H-hollow?"

"Indeed. Hollow is a race of creatures which born from Human Souls. Th-"

"Human souls you said? But that's-"

"Shut up, baka! My explanations weren't finished yet," protested the midget.

'_For God's sake, __**is she really dying**__?'_ Ichigo sweatdropped, again.

After clearing her throat, she continued her explanation. "They devour the souls of both livind and deceased humans. It's our job, shinigamis, to – **watch out**!" she suddenly exclaimed.

A hollow, the earlier one, appeared behind Ichigo. It swung its monstrous right hand towards both teenagers, successfully knocked them several meters away.

'_This is...impossible. I couldn't feel its presence. This never happens before..." _the shinigami thought, shocked.

"...at this rate...your family will also be targeted by that hollow," she said

"What? But why?"

"Your family members, especially your sisters, have vast amount of reiryoku, though theirs are not as much as yours. Hollows' favorite preys are those with high level of reiryoku."

"R-reiryoku?" he murmured in confusion

There was a short moment of pause until the midget one spoke up. "So, do you want...to save your family?" she breathed heavily. It seemed like the last hit damaged her severely.

"Of course, is there a way?" the other teenager asked

"You...must become a Shinigami," answered the midget.

"_Wait. It's the dream..." _Ichigo murmured

"Thrust this zanpakutou through your heart...and I'll pour my powers into you. I...don't know whether this will work or not, but there isn't any other way," the Shinigami explained. She looked like she was about to collapse any time.

'_It really is that damn dream,' _his eyes widened in disbelief

"So...what's your decision, human?" She asked. Her consciousness began dispersing. There was another short pause before the amber eyed teenager spoke up.

"...gimme the katana, shinigami."

"I'm not Shinigami," she smiled, "I'm – "

"Kuchiki Rukia, right?"

"H-how did – "

"I'm...Kurosaki Ichigo"

Thus, he stabbed the katana through his heart. Suddenly, the wind gathered around the two teenagers, forming a thick layer of dust. As the layer began to fade, a silhouette of a teenager could be seen. Letting out another monstrous growl, the hollow charged towards the teenager. It lifted its left hand to the air and swung it towards the teenager. The layer of dust dispersed, revealing an orange haired teenager in black hakama blocked the attack with a broadsword-like katana. Smiling, he dodged to the left, swung his katana vertically and successfully cut the hollow's left hand. Ignoring the its growl, he ducked and dashed towards the howling creature. As he landed in front of the hollow, he jumped and did another vertical slash that cut the masked being into two. The hollow let out another growl as it began disintegrating.

* * *

**Translation:**

**Baka: **Idiot, stupid  
**Hakama: **A traditional Japanese clothing  
**Reiryoku: **Spiritual energy

* * *

Phew...  
We're done with the opening part, finally xD  
The main story begins on the next chapter, so stay tuned!

And as usual, **review please~ **xD

Cya


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for both the readers and the reviewers! xD  
Sorry for the late update though ^^a  
There were a lot of things to do...

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately**, I don't own bleach. Tite Kubo does. T_T

Now, to the story...  
Enjoy!

**

* * *

The Encounter – Part 1**

A week had passed since that night. The night when the violet eyed shinigami lost her power, when the teenager gained his power as a shinigami. The night of fate, the night when this all started.

It was a peaceful morning, though, as usual, it didn't last long. A loud ruckus can be heard from the 15 years old teenager's room. Though this time, the ex-shinigami broke through his son's window. And as usual, Ichigo managed to plant his fist on his father's face, which led towards another cry from the old man. Once his father left the room, Ichigo headed for his closet.

"Why are you here anyway?" the teenager protested.

A rustling sound can be heard from the closet.

"_Oh great, here she goes again..." _he mumbled. Suddenly, the closet door opened, revealing an ex-shinigami in her pajama, holding a drawing book. She opened the rabbit covered book, took a writing utensil – a pen – and began drawing something. The other teenager covered his amber eyes with his right hand, sighing.

"Ehem..." the midget cleared her throat. "You know that I lost my shinigami power that night, right?" she asked as she turned the drawing book, revealing her typical rabbit-like drawings. Ichigo half heartedly nodded.

"Now, since I can't fight hollows in this form, you must replace me to protect the souls in this city. And si-"

"Geez, I know that already. What I want to know is, why are you **here**, in my room?" Ichigo interrupted.

"Listen until I finish my explanation, baka!" the midget exclaimed as she threw the drawing book towards the orange haired teenager. The flying object successfully hit the poor teenager's head, causing the release of a growl by the amber eyed one. The petite girl then picked up her drawing book, opened it, cleared her throat for the second time, and continued her interrupted explanation.

"-and since you suck at feeling reiatsu, I'll be the one to tell you when there is a hollow, understand?" she explained.

"Hey, you don't have to say it like that! I'm not suck at feeling reiatsu, you know?" the orange haired teenager exclaimed, followed by a murmur, "it's just that...I'm not really good at it"

A burst of laugh can be heard from the closet.

"It's the same, baka!" the violet eyed one laughed

"S-shut up! What's with those drawing anyway? It's horrible you kno-"

Before the teenager could finish his words, Rukia had already thrown her drawing book. But this time, the violet eyed girl missed. The amber eyed one managed to dodge the flying drawing book.

"Ha! I won't fell for the same th-"

Again, before the poor teenager could finish his words, a geta had successfully landed on his face, knocked him off to the floor. Ichigo moaned in pain as he got up and rubbed his bleeding nose.

"_Geez, is she really a human? I mean, she had lost her powers right?" _the poor teenager grumbled

"Did you say something, Ichigo?" asked the violet eyed teenager as she grasped another dangerous-looking thing on her right hand.

"U-uh, n-no-"

Unexpectedly, the midget's cell-phone-like thing rang. She lifted her pillow, took the portable machine, and opened it. Her violet eyes widened upon seeing the flashing screen. She wore a glove, a red one with a blue flame and a skull embroidered on it, hastily. The midget then rushed towards the other teenager, knocked his soul out of his body.

"W-what the?" the soul complained in confusion

"Stop yapping, baka! There are a large number of hollows roaming in this city," the violet eyed teenager exclaimed as she opened the window

"Geez, it's not even seven yet," growled the orange haired one. He carried the midget on his back and jumped outside the window, heading towards the hollows.

###

"Hoi rukia, is this the place?" asked an orange haired shinigami as he landed safely on the ground.

"According to my hollow detector, it's a yes," reply the midget as she got off from the shinigami's back

"But there's nothing here..." the substitute shinigami protested

"Hmm...this is wei-"

A sudden growl can be heard. Numerous white masked monsters appeared out of nowhere, dashed towards the two teenagers.

"Ichigo, behind you!" exclaimed the black haired one.

"I-I know!" yelled the other teenager. Fortunately, he managed to dodge the attack. He then dashed towards the attacker and cut it into two. He stepped back as the hollow dissolved.

"Tch, we are being surrounded," grumbled the 15 years old teenager

"Don't let your guard down, Ichigo" said the violet eyed teenager, half whispering. Ignoring his friend, Ichigo dashed towards the group of hollows which successfully made Rukia exclaimed another "baka". He was slashing his fourth hollow when another masked creature attacked him from behind. He arduously blocked and dodged the attack, panted.

'_Damn! At this rate, I won't be able to defeat all of them. If only I have more power...'_ the teenager thought

'_D' ya need powers, king?'_ a voice, a violent one, rang in the shinigami's head.

"_W-who are you?" _he replied as the white part of his eyes gradually turned black.

'_Who am I? Tch, u're pathetic, king.'_

"_K-king? What do you mean?" _asked the Shinigami.

'_Hah! Enough for the chit-chat! I'm taking over your body now. Hahaha! See ya, king,' laughed the voice_

Ichigo growled in pain as another existence began to invade his mind. His left eye's sclera turned to completely black. His amber iris turned to yellowish gold. He covered his face with his left hand, trying to resist the invasion done by the unknown existence. The masked one, however, didn't care about his condition. One of them formed a red orb-like thing of concentrated spiritual energy.

"C-cero? Impossible..." the girl's violet eyes widened, "only a menos can use cero."

Giving no time for them to do anything, the hollow fired the cero towards the growling teenager. However, a circle of light filled with symbols mysteriously appeared on the ground, setting up a barrier around barrier around the shinigami had successfully protected him from any harm. A circle, the same with the first one, appeared around Rukia, setting another barrier around the midget. Another circle, too, appeared around them: the group of hollows, the shinigami, and the midget. This one, however, was slightly different from the first two: the symbols were much more complicated and it was formed by lighting fire on the ground. Suddenly, the temperature within the circle increased dramatically and a second later, a fire pillar was formed, burning the masked monsters into ashes. Ichigo, who managed to resist the mysterious voice owner, gaped in disbelief.

"_Kurosaki Ichigo, you are not strong enough..."_

_

* * *

_**Translation  
Reiatsu - **Spiritual pressure**  
Baka - **Idiot, stupid**  
Geta - **A japanese traditional footwear**  
Cero - **A powerful blast of concentrated spiritual energy

* * *

A new character is about to appear in the next chapter! xD  
So, stay tuned lol...

And as usual, mind to review? O.o

Ja ne.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for the reviews!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach. All that I own are the story lines and the OCs.

Happy reading ^^

**

* * *

The Encounter (Part 2)**

"Kurosaki Ichigo, you are not strong enough..."

'_T-that voice! It's the one I heard earlier; just before that freakin' hollow attacked my family. It's her! The voice, the way she speaks, I'll never forget it. Except, it feels very clear and real this time...could she be-?' _the gaping shinigami darted his amber eyes from left to right, hoping that he might caught the watcher-or-so-called girl. Though, after several seconds of investigating, it was proven to be fruitless. The orange haired then sighed and tried to get up.

"Are you looking for someone?"

"Well, yes," the shinigami replied shortly

"I see..."

There was a short pause before the teenager finally realized something.

'_...wait. I think I've heard this voice before...besides, how could she talk to me anyway? I'm in my shinigami form right?'_

Confused, the 15 years old teenager turned his body, only to find nothing. He sighed, "So it was just my imagination..."

"What imagination?" inquired a girlish voice, innocently

"Whoaa!" the startled teenager exclaimed as he heard the voice.

Ichigo turned his body once more, abruptly this time, letting the widened amber eyes met the crimson ones. The owner of the crimson eyes was a rather _tall_ girl, likely to be the same age with Ichigo. She had a long light-brown hair with a checkered brown ribbon hair-band put on. She wore a black robe with a yellowish gold cord around the chest area.

"_She's...taller than Ruki – wait. Is she floating?"_ the strawberry (**A/N:** Ichigo means strawberry in Japanese), once again, gaped in disbelief, couldn't trust what he saw through his amber eyes.

There was a slight change in the girl's expression before she finally spoke, "Yes, you are right. I really am floating..."

After the said, the floating girl landed on the ground, sighed, and began to speak emotionlessly, "...even without floating in the air, I am taller than that Ruki-thing. I am 145 cm tall, you know?"

'_D-did she just...read...my mind? What the hell? ...wait. Rukia is about 144, right? That means that she is __**only **__1 cm taller than Rukia...'_

A burst of laugh can be heard. The "culprit" was, of course, the rolling-on-the-ground shinigami, while the "victim" was the blushing crimson eyed girl.

"S-shut up! I'm **still **taller you know!" she exclaimed, trying not to blush any further

The laugh, however, suddenly stopped. The atmosphere became tense as the shinigami asked, "Who...are you? You can read my mind, don't you?"

There was, again, a short pause, longer than the first one, before the long brown haired girl sighed and opened her mouth, "...fine. I will tell you. My name is Ishikawa Hikari, The Watcher. As I told you before, we, The Watcher, are the ones assigned to keep an eye on our "clients". Our job is to prevent the change in history, which means, the "client" may not alter what should have been done, regardless from how unimportant the event is. But-"

"Wait. If I'm not allowed to do something about that man, then this world will..." interrupted the orange haired one. He couldn't finish his words though; a sudden head-ache prevented him to do so.

"...please listen to my explanation first," she sighed, "But for **your** case, however, I, as your Watcher, was given another task: to assist you, and stop the Aizen-called man from destroying the three worlds," continued the watcher, ignoring the groan let out by the shinigami.

Hikari then scrutinized the shinigami's condition and began another speech, a very short one, "...It looks like you have had some of your memories back."

"Ugh...m-memories? What are you talking about?" Ichigo groaned confusedly, right after the pain perished.

"...I...may not speak beyond this. Besides, it is better for you to take that girl back and treat her wounds.

'_Damn! I totally forgot about Rukia...' _the male teenager thought, followed by a "till we meet again" and the vanishing of the watcher.

'_What the hell is happening here? Damn...'_

###

"Ichigooo~!" yelled an energetic teenager, which followed by a dodge from the orange haired one, successfully made the energetic one kissed the floor. Another "normal" morning in Karakura High School.

The bell rang, indicated the start of the day's lesson. Every student, including our strawberry, returned to their corresponding seats as their homeroom teacher entered the class.

"Ok class, before we begin our first lesson today, I would like to introduce a new student in this class," the female teacher said, "Please come in, Hikari-chan."

"_H-hikari?"_ the orange haired teenager mumbled, ignoring his classmates' chatters. Once again, his amber eyes widened.

The slide door was opened, revealing a girl, as tall as Rukia, with a long light-brown hair. She walked in anxiously. The female teacher told her to introduce herself. The light-brown haired girl then inhaled, held her breath for barely a second, and introduced herself in a cheerful voice, "My name is Ishikawa Hikari! Hajimemashite~!"

'_T-that's her! God dammit, that's her!' _realized the teenager. The violet eyed midget, however, didn't; she passed out immediately after the fire pillar thing.

'_...wait. Her eyes are crimson right? Then why are they amber coloured now?' _the strawberry confused, though, he forgot it a second later, assuming that she wore soflens.

"Now, Hikari-chan, your seat is over there, beside the orange haired one. Don't worry, despite his hair colour, he is a good person," said the teacher

The female teenager walked towards her seat, beside the strawberry, and greeted her new neighbor.

"Ohayo, Ichigo-kun..." greeted the light brown haired girl

"O-ohayo..." replied the orange haired one.

* * *

**Translation  
Hajimemashite: **Nice/pleased to meet you**  
Ohayo: **Good morning

* * *

Another boring chapter I must say...xD  
But I promise that the next chapter will be much, much interesting  
And sorry for both the OOC-ness and the mistakes I made in this chapter

Finally, **please review! XD**

See u later**  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for the reviews ^^  
Well, there were several reviewers who asked me to make a longer chapter.  
So, here it is (not that long though. xD)

**Disclaimer: **I do want to own Bleach, but unfortunately, I don't. Tite Kubo does.

Enjoy~

* * *

**The "Confession" and The Anticipation**

"...use the moment formula here and the problem is solved," explain the male teacher. It was the second period of the day, physic. Our protagonist, though, didn't pay attention to the teacher; his amber eyes did, but his mind didn't. It was filled with the light-brown haired girl sat next to him.

'_What the hell is she thinking? I know that she __**is**__ a...watcher-or-so-called thing and it's her job to observe me, but she needn't go this far right? I mean, I won't do anything suspicious at school. Just what is her brain made of?' _the orange haired teenager grumbled, not for the first time of course: he'd been doing this since the girl sat next to him. Sighed, he then turned his head towards the now-amber-eyed girl. Again, their eyes male one, however, froze in terror.

'_Damn! I totally forgot about her mind-reading ability. God, I'm freaking doomed...'_ thought the poor teenager.

Nevertheless, the female one didn't show any sign of anger. Instead, she blushed and asked, timidly, "uhmm...is there something on my face?"

Snapped back at reality, the strawberry frantically replied, "U-uh. N-no, nothing. Sorry..." and quickly turned his head away.

'_Why was he apologizing?' _the 145 cm girl thought, raised her left eyebrow.

"_Looks like that it's not my destiny to die today...haha..." _mumbled the relieved teenager, half laughing. Ichigo, however, couldn't get the presence next to him out of his mind and decided to ask her directly. He then ripped a small piece of paper from his notebook and began writing something. Finished, he "folded" the paper and threw it towards the girl, quickly turned his head away, again. The thrown paper successfully hit the new student's head. In response, she looked at Ichigo in confusion, furtively took the piece of paper, and began reading it.

"_Meet me at the rooftop during the break"_

"N-no way..." the Hikari-called teenager, unexpectedly, blushed.

###

Another bell rung, indicating the end of the fourth period. Every student busied with their own business: most of them went to the cafeteria, when the rest had their lunch in the classroom. A black haired female teenager, however, headed towards the new student.

"Hi, my name is Arisawa Tatsuki. Nice to meet you," she said cheerfully.

"N-nice to meet you too," replied the light-brown haired one.

"Say, do you want to have a lunch with us?" inquired the black one as she pointed her best friend: the burnt-orange haired one.

"I would like to, but Kurosaki-kun had already waited for me at the rooftop..." replied Hikari as she, once more, unreasonably blushed.

"I-I see...good luck then."

"Gomen," the light-brown haired one said as she ran towards the rooftop.

"_Geez, that Ichigo. What is he thinking? I mean, yes, Hikari-chan __**is **__a cute girl and she doesn't look like a bad person, but still, they haven't even known each other for 12 hours and yet – geez," _gumbled the black haired one.

###

The blue painted door opened, revealing the 145 cm girl panted lightly. "Sorry to keep you waiting" was the first one came out from her mouth.

"It's okay..." replied the strawberry.

"Uhm...so...what do you want to talk with me?" inquired the girl, shyly.

"Well...that's..." there was a short pause before Ichigo continued his words," I...want you to know that I can't get you out of my mind ever since this morning..."

The orange haired teenager successfully made the new student blushed.

"...I...want to ask you something," he continued with a serious tone.

'_W-what should I do?' _thought the girl as her heart pounded faster.

There was another short pause, longer though, before the male teenager said another word, "...what the hell is your intention, going to the same school as mine?"

"...huh?" mumbled the girl, blushed heavily from embarrassment.

"I won't do suspicious things at school, you know? You don't have to keep an eye on me for 24 hours; I'm no child anymore," resumed the orange haired one.

"S-shut up! Stop laughing already..." the girl mumbled, still blushed.

"Huh? What're you talking 'bout?" inquired the taller one, confused.

"Ah...s-sorry!" replied the light-brown haired one with both of her amber eyes closed. However, once she opened her eyes, they turned into the crimson ones. The amber eyes widened.

"W-what the hell?"

"Are you surprised? Well, it is not an unusual reaction though..." the girl responded.

'_What happened? Not only her eyes' color, but the air around her seems to change too; it's much more serious than before. She's like a whole different person,' _the shocked teenager thought.

"Well, actually, we are still the same person: only our personality changed."

Once again, the other teenager gaped in disbelief, _'She can read my mind?'_

"Yes, I have told you before right, Kurosaki Ichigo?" she replied casually.

"You're kidding right? There's no way that a human can read the other's mind. Besides, what do you mean by changing personality? I don't get it at all...who are you?" said the orange haired teenager, half shouting.

"Calm down will you?" she replied, "First, it's true that no normal humans can read the other's mind. Unfortunately, I am not those normal human you were talking about."

"N-no way..."

"...actually, there are two personalities in this body: the new student Hikari and me. Normally, I only showed up only in battles, but because of an unbearable...embarrassment, she forced me out," explained the girl.

"Uh...embarrassment?" inquired the confused teenager

"Well, you can ask her later. Now, about our enrollment in this school. It is true that we have another intention aside from studying: to protect you."

"P-protect me?" protested the teenager angrily

"Yes, to protect you. We cannot let you die. At least, you must obtain your powers back: your bankai and hollow mask."

"My powers back? What do you mean?" asked the orange haired one.

The crimson eyed girl sighed, "...the time had been reversed. The user, however, will lose everything: his memory, powers, everything."

"What? Who do you think can do such thing? It's not even possible," said Ichigo in a sarcasm tone.

"Well, in fact, **you** had reversed the time."

"M-me? Im – "

Just before the strawberry finished his words, the bell rung. The crimson eyed girl decided to go back to the class, leaving the orange haired teenager lost in his thought.

###

_Honto wa ne  
Kamatte hoshikute isiketa furi wo shiteiru  
Dake nandayo  
Kodomo mitai de – _

-Click-

The orange haired teenager turned off his CD player, took off the earphones, put them on the desk near his bed, and threw his worn out body to the bed. It was night already. Ichigo, however, skipped his dinner and went to his room directly.

"_Reversed the time she said? Huh, what a bad joke..." _grumbled the teenager, sighing.

"..."

"I...reversed the time?" he mumbled. The air became silent as the orange haired teenager lost in his thought about the earlier conversation. A sudden voice, however, brake the silent.

"Onii-saan, you have a guest," exclaimed his mother-like little sister, Yuzu.

Nevertheless, the teenager stood still for several seconds before he finally made a move: lifted his body and got off from his blue sheeted bed.

"...who's it?" he replied.

"Uh...I haven't seen her before..." said the voice in front of his door.

'_A her? Is it Tatsuki? But Yuzu said that she had never seen her before...' _thought the teenager. He sighed and headed towards the front door, though, as soon as he saw the guest, he stopped moving, shocked in disbelief.

"Y-you..." mumbled the strawberry.

"Ano...s-sorry to bother you...I want to talk about something," the amber eyed girl said.

"...come in," said the teenager as he led the girl towards his room. There was a brief pause as they entered the room with the girl observing her surroundings: Ichigo's room before the strawberry brake the silent.

"W-what's wrong?" asked the orange haired one.

"N-nothing...it's just..."

"Just?"

"I-it's my first time entering a boy's room..." replied the light-brown haired one.

"It's no big deal, yanno? So, what do you want to talk with me?" inquired the substitute shinigami. The girl inhaled before then closed her eyes and opened them again as she exhaled. Once again, her eyes' colour changed.

"Have you read the message on your desk?" inquired the now-crimson-eyed girl.

"Huh? What message?" inquired the confused teenager.

"The message Rukia left for you..." she replied, briefly. Ichigo then took a look at his desk. Noticing a strange piece of paper, he quickly took it. His amber eyes widened as he know that it really was from Rukia.

"H-how do you – "

"Just read it," interrupted the girl. Ichigo, however, did what she said immediately. He froze in disbelief. A drop of perspiration slide down slowly from his left temple.

"Today is the day when Rukia was forced to go back to the Soul Society," said the girl.

"F-forced?"

"...yes."

"But why?" inquired the orange haired one.

"Because of the Hougyoku," she briefly answered

"H-hougyoku?"

"Yes. It is the most important thing in Aizen's plan. Without the presence of the hougyoku, his plans can't be realized," explained the midget.

"So...where's this hougyoku thing?" Ichigo asked.

"...it is in Rukia's soul."

"I see – what? Inside her soul?" he responded, shocked.

"Yes. The Hougyoku fused with her soul and the main purpose of capturing Rukia is actually to separate the Hougyoku from her spiritual body. This is where it all start," she continued her explanation, "So, perhaps, by stopping the confine of the ex-shinigami, we can ruin Aizen's plan..."

The substitute shinigami stood abruptly, "I don't really understand what you've been saying, but you said that by saving Rukia, we can save the world right? Then what're you waitin' for?"

The crimson eyed female stood up and lifted her right hand so that she could reach Ichigo's face. As the orange haired teenager spaced out, Hikari touched his forehead with her index finger, knocked his spiritual body out of his physical one.

###

"Are you sure that this is the place?" inquired the shinigami.

"Indeed," replied the girl on his back.

Not so long, vague images of three human beings could be seen. They were about to enter an out-of-nowhere slide door. Ichigo then landed behind them. The three beings were actually Rukia and two men, dressed in shinigami uniforms. One, however, was wearing a white haori with number six imprinted on it and a scarf. He was a man with slate gray eyes and a long black hair kept up in intricate white headpieces. The other man was a crimson haired guy wearing glasses, taller than the first one. There was an insignia with number 6 carved on it tied on his right arm.

"Release Rukia," said the substitute shinigami, much more like a command though.

"If I don't?" inquired the black haired one, calmly.

Ichigo suddenly dashed towards the black haired shinigami, unsheathed his giant zanpakuto, and swung it vertically. However, before his zanpakuto reached its destination, another zanpakuto had blocked the attack. It was the other shinigami. Feeling threatened, the orange haired one jumped back, successfully dodged the attack.

"Heh! Who d'ya think you are, dumbass? Your powers aren't even one tenth of mine, and yet, you dared to attack the captain? I'll show you how weak you are," the crimson haired one exclaimed. He touched the sword, near its hilt and moved slowly to its end.

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

He then extended his 6 segmented sword towards the substitute shinigami, which could successfully dodge the attack. The extended sword, however, bent towards Ichigo, which successfully scratched his left arm.

"Hah! How d'ya like that?" said the shinigami as he retrieved his sword's segments. The substitute shinigami, however, just stood still before finally let out a faint smile. He then lifted his right arm to the air, hold the zanpakuto horizontally and turned his wrist 90 degrees, counterclockwise.

"...slash, Zangetsu!"

Without being realized, Ichigo had shunpoed, landed right in front of the crimson haired shinigami, and swung his now-giant-kitchen-knife-like zanpakuto upward, severely hurt the other shinigami.

"Y-you! I-impossible...ugh..." mumbled the taller shinigami as he fell onto the ground. The other shinigami, the black haired one, however, froze in disbelief.

"**I **am the one who'll show **you **how weak you are now, Renji."

* * *

**Translation  
Gomen - **Sorry  
**Bankai - **The second release, the final form of a zanpakuto  
**Onii-san - **Big brother  
**Ano - **Uhmm  
**Zanpakuto - **Soul slayer  
**Shunpo - **Flash step

* * *

Thank you for reading~ xD  
Btw, the song above was one of the Aqua Timez's song, Honto wa ne...  
It's just the reff though...  
hehe

[Warning: spoiler]  
Someone is going to appear on the next chapter~  
The AS initialed captain. xD

**Don't forget to review. =p**

Well, cya.**  
**


	7. Chapter 7

As usual, thanks to the reviewers~ xD

**Disclaimer: **I do **not **own bleach in any ways, Tite Kubo does. All that I own are just the storyline and the OC. I, too, do not own 'Aetherion', it is Hiro Mashima's.

Now, to the story...

**

* * *

The Change of History**

**Flashback**

_The crimson eyed female stood up and lifted her right hand so that she could reach Ichigo's face. As the orange haired teenager spaced out, Hikari touched his forehead with her index finger, knocked his spiritual body out of his physical one._

"_Gah! I'll never get used to this," the orange haired one grumbled. The other teenager, however, didn't say a thing. Her crimson eyes were focused on Ichigo's reaction, though, there was nothing particular shown on his reaction._

"_...w-what's this? I can feel a surge of energy running down inside my body..." he finally realized._

"_That was...long. How come you didn't realize that up until now?" she sweatdropped._

"_S-shut up! What did you do to me anyway?"_

"_...I restore some of your former powers and memories. It is about 25 percent, I think..." explained the girl._

"_I-I see..." responded the male teenager, nervously._

"_So, do you remember something about Aizen? Like his face, maybe?"_

"_Hmm...let's see," mumbled shinigami. There was a short pause before a groan can be hear, followed by a' right-eye-covering hand movement'. "Ugh...damn! My head hurts..."_

"_...do not push yourself too hard. You cannot remember those you have never met though..." said the crimson eyed girl, "But, you do remember about tonight, do not you?"_

"_Eh? Uh, sure..." he replied._

"_Well, with your current power, you will be able to defeat the red haired shini – "_

"_It's Renji," interrupted the orange haired teenager._

_The light-brown haired one sighed, "You never change, do you? Fine, you will be able to defeat Renji. The other man, however – "_

"_It's Byakuya," interrupted the orange haired teenager, again._

"_Can't you – uh, sorry," she sighed, "You will not be able to defeat that 'Byakuya' easily, even though three-fourth of his powers are sealed away; he is a captain after all. Moreover, even with your full strength, you could not defeat him; you two fought evenly"_

"_Enough for the explanation, I think you said that we should hurry..." uttered Ichigo. After letting out a sigh, the shorter teenager jumped onto the taller one's back. The taller one then jumped out of his window, headed towards the place pointed by the shorter one._

**End of Flashback**

The orange haired teenager sighed, lifted his blood stained giant kitchen knife; pointed at the long black haired shinigami, and said, with a look of sadness in his eyes, "Your turn, eh? Kuchiki Byakuya..."

"Y-you...how could you know my name?" he asked back, distracted.

"It's no big deal. Now, release Rukia."

"S-stop it, Ichigo!" the black haired midget interfered, "He's my – "

"Step brother? I know that..." interrupted the orange haired one.

"...w-who are you. No, I should've asked, what are you?" inquired the other male shinigami.

"Me? I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, a substitute shinigami, as you know. Now, enough for the chit-chat, just release Rukia, or –"

"Or what? You're going to kill me? Don't make me laugh!" he uttered with a stoic face, half yelled.

"...or you'll be sorry."

With that said, Ichigo shunpoed, landed right on Byakuya's right, turned his body left, and swung his zangetsu horizontally, trying to cut the startled shinigami. Unfortunately, the startled shinigami managed to dodge the attack in the last split second, even though the attack did cut his right sleeve.

After shunpoed away, Byakuya unsheathed his zanpakuto, "...fine then. If this is what you want."

The captain then shunpoed – at an incredible speed –, landed on Ichigo's behind, and swung his zanpakuto diagonally: from upper right to the lower left. However, the dazed shinigami managed to miraculously block the attack.

"Senka, huh?" mumbled the orange haired teenager.

'_H-how did he?' thought the blocked shinigami._

"Heh, it won't work twice on me."

'_Twice he said?' _he, again, thought as his slate grey eyes widened.

As soon as the slate grey eyed shinigami shunpoed away, the amber eyed one uttered, "Your tricks won't work on me anymore. Just give up already and hand over Rukia."

"Don't make me laugh. I haven't even started yet," uttered the stoic faced shinigami, arrogantly. He then put his right hand in front of his chest, vertically held his zanpakuto upwards.

"…Scatter, Senbonzakura."

The zanpakuto, surprisingly, began scattering, turned into hundreds of minute sword fragments. Very small that no ordinary creature could see the fragments, though, the light reflected made them as to appear as cherry blossoms. Without any warning, the cherry blossom like sword fragments rushed towards Ichigo. Fortunately, the attacked shinigami managed to dodge the shikai by shunpoing away.

"Senbonzakura…" mumbled the substitute shinigami, followed by a yell, "Oi, Byakuya, it's not the right time for us to fight each other! Right now, we have to –"

"Where does the spirit you showed me earlier go? …I see. You're afraid of my shikai, aren't you?" interrupted the slate grey eyed shinigami.

"Afraid of these stupid petals? No way!" replied Ichigo, _'What's with this bad feeling, anyway? It won't go away; in fact, it's getting worse…damn!'_

"Very well. Then, I'll show you what these 'petals' can do. Be prepared, Kurosaki Ichigo!" uttered the captain-class shinigami as his shikai rushed towards Ichigo. As usual, the amber eyed shinigami managed to escape the fatal attack, landed behind the other shinigami, and swayed Zangetsu diagonally, trying to cut the shinigami. The slash, however, was blocked by hundreds of the petals, acted as a shield. Knowing his assault was a complete failure, Ichigo jumped back, preparing for his next attack. Nevertheless, before the jumping shinigami landed on the ground, hundreds of the cherry blossom like sword fragments had already rushed towards him, again. This time, being defenseless, the substitute shinigami turned his body and used the giant kitchen knife like zanpakuto as his shield. Though, Zangetsu couldn't block the attack perfectly, causing the petals to graze his left arm. As the substitute shinigami finally landed on the ground, the other shinigami aimed his left index finger towards the substitute one.

"Bakudou 61: Rukujyoukourou"

Six bars of light came out of nowhere, successfully sealed the strawberry's movement. As the substitute shinigami damn-ing, the shikai rushed towards him from three different directions, leaving him any other choice but to receive the attack. A loud groan of pain can be heard. The Byakuya named shinigami sealed his shikai away, assuming that our strawberry had been cut to ash.

"That's what happened if you overestimate yourself," said the stoic faced shinigami, emotionlessly.

"**I-Ichigo!**" exclaimed the black haired midget. The wind, however, blew away the dust, revealing a vague silhouette of a young man, holding a giant kitchen knife on his right hand.

"Getsuga…Tensho…"

A crescent moon shaped condensed spiritual energy flied towards the long black haired shinigami. As a respond of the yell, Byakuya turned his body, quickly blocked the attack with his zanpakuto. The crescent moon thing, however, was powerful; the blocking shinigami was pushed several meters away. Being too busy with the blocking, the captain class shinigami failed to realize the tremendous amount of reiatsu released by the floating orange haired shinigami. The once amber eyes turned silvery blue.

"Worst comin'," mumbled the now silvery blue eyed shinigami. A bigger condensed spiritual energy flied towards the other shinigami. Having no time to dodge, the slate grey eyed shinigami used all of his remaining power to block the attack. After being pushed several meters, he managed to stop the Getsuga Tensho thing. But again, he miserably failed to notice the presence behind him.

"Sayonara, Byakuya."

With that said, the blood soaked shinigami knocked Byakuya out. Just as a sigh of relieve released by the teenager, a vast amount of reiatsu was being released. A middle-featured man with a brown scholarly hair wearing square glasses came out of a slide door, similar to the one Ichigo saw earlier. He then clapped his hands and smiled menacingly.

"Bravo, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"A-Aizen…" muttered the orange haired teenager as he turned his body and saw the smiling shinigami. Another stream of memory seemed to have entered his mind.

"_Ai…zen? So, this is him. The man who will bring chaos upon the three worlds…"_ mumbled the light-brown haired teenager.

"Aizen-taichou…" murmured the black haired midget. The substitute shinigami, however, tightened his grip on Zangetsu and dashed towards Aizen, trying to cut the standing shinigami with a single vertical slash. Unexpectedly, the brown haired didn't unsheathe his zanpakuto, instead, he lifted his left hand and stopped the attack, successfully surprised the two other teenager watching from afar. With a single leap, he threw the orange haired shinigami away.

'_What the?' _thought the thrown teenager as he used his 1.75 m zanpakuto as a lever, trying to get up. Being persistent, he, once again, dashed towards the brown haired shinigami and launched another futile attack, which was blocked easily by only using a hand. Feeling threatened, the attacking shinigami jumped back immediately, perfectly dodge the blow launched by the other shinigami.

"Not bad, I must say. Looks like that you have retrieve some of your powers," said the shinigami wearing a white haori with number 5 imprinted on it. Though, upon hearing the words, the light-brown haired schoolgirl widened her crimson eyes.

'_The way he spoke...no. It is impossible; it had to be mere random words,' _thought the girl,_ 'This is weird though, I cannot read his mind. __**What**__**is**__ this man?'_

The implied man then smiled, menacingly of course, and uttered, "Me? I'm just a mere shinigami. The name is Sosuke Aizen, the captain of the 5th division," he then gripped the hilt of his sheathed zanpakuto, "My zanpakuto is –"

"Kyoka Suigetsu, right?" half whispered the orange haired shinigami who successfully shunpoed without being realized and stopped Aizen from unsheathing his zanpakuto. The stoic expression on the other shinigami's face disappeared; instead, the more startled one appeared. However, effortlessly, the startled shinigami once again threw the other shinigami away. Being used to be thrown away, the thrown shinigami landed on the ground safely this time. His reiatsu then increased dramatically.

"Getsuga Ten –"

Just before the words finished, the brown haired shinigami had landed right in front of the orange haired one and, using his right hand, launched a painful blow right at the target's abdomen, causing the other shinigami to spewed blood. Nevertheless, before the amber eyed one was able to retrieve his balance and launched a counterattack, the captain-class shinigami had already turned his body and grabbed him by his head, crushed his head to the ground.

"D-damn..." mumbled the defeated shinigami right before he passed out. The Watcher, however, just stood there, watching all the commotion without even doing anything. Aizen then smiled and walked slowly towards the startled violet eyed midget. He then strangled the midget, lifted her to the air, and with a strange device, he successfully separated the Hougyoku from the midget's soul. Being useless, the unconscious teenager was thrown away heartlessly.

"Finally...from now on, I'll –"

"Ice Pillar"

Just before the brown haired shinigami finished his words, a circle of ice formed on the ground and froze all within it. Unexpectedly, the circle expanded upwards, forming a pillar of ice, successfully trapped the brown eyed shinigami in it. The pillar formed was similar to Rukia's First Dance.

"My, my. Whom were you attacking at?" said a voice behind the caster of the spell.

Startled by the voice, Hikari immediately turned her body. A man, a brown haired one, was standing there, unharmed.

"Watchers aren't allowed to be involved if I'm not mistaken," continued the brown haired one.

'_H-how does he – '_

"Well, it doesn't matter though. Your power is nothing to be afraid of," uttered the smiling shinigami, "Now, die."

The shinigami quickly drew his zanpakuto and slashed the floating girl diagonally. However, the slash was blocked by an unseen force.

"Barrier, huh?" mumbled the brown haired one. He suddenly realized something; It was when he was about to draw back his sword. He couldn't move his body; his hands, his feet, even his mouth. The only thing he could do is to move his brown eyes.

'_W-what's this?' _thought him.

"Got you," mumbled the girl as she began chanting an incantation, a long and intricate one.

'_Th-this is! Impossible! A time spell?'_

"With the exchange of my time, I beg you, The Time Guardian, who control the time, to seal away his existence."

'_Impossible...'_

"Aetherion"

Some complicated symbols formed around the disabled shinigami, revolving around him before then wrap him. Being left without any other choice, the brown haired one could only grieved over his negligence and miscalculation. Several seconds later, a luminous light had already covered all of his body. The light then shrank into a small orb of light before finally dissolved.

"With this, the history has changed and The Fall could be delayed..." mumbled the worn out crimson eyed teenager weakly before finally ran out of energy and fell onto the ground.

* * *

**Translation  
Shunpo: **Flash step  
**Zanpakuto: **Soul slayer  
**Senka: **Literally, flash blossom. A special Shunpo technique where one moves to their opponent's back, directly attacking and sealing one's energy flow**  
Shikai: **First release. The first form of zanpakutos  
**Reiatsu: **Spirit pressure  
**Taicho: **Captain

* * *

As some of you may know, Aetherion is the most powerful magic in Rave by Hiro Mashima. It can even control the time and space. So, I decided to use it as the time magic used by Hikari. xD  
(Though, honestly, I can't think of any other name lol =p)

As usual, review please~ XD

Thanks for reading ^^

-XiN-


	8. Chapter 8

As usual, thanks for the reviewers.  
Sorry for the late update though...

**Disclaimer  
**I own Bleach.  
Correction, I **want **to own Bleach.  
Tite Kubo did.

Now, to the story...  
Enjoy~

**

* * *

The Test**

It was a fine afternoon, a day after Aizen, the captain of the 5th division, successfully took away the Hougyoku after easily overcame the orange haired one's futile resistance, though, at the same day, he lost his spiritual being and was thrown away into another dimension of time; being sealed away by The Watcher. Ichigo, however, was lying on his blue sheeted bed with his head on both his hands, staring at the ceiling. As usual, his mind was filled with events happened in these past two days. This time, though, he looked more serious.

"_What's with those freakin' choices she gave, anyway?"_ grumbled he.

**Flashback**

_The bell rang, indicated the start of the day's lessons. Every scholar returned to their respective seat, though, not with the orange haired one. As if he didn't hear a thing, the amber eyed teenager walked towards the desk beside his. There, a light-brown haired girl was preparing for the first lesson: history. Being ignorant, the orange haired one pulled the light-brown haired one towards the door and headed towards the rooftop, ignoring the now clumsy girl's "cry-for-help"._

"_Lover's quarrel, eh?" said the dark haired lean girl._

"_Ishikawa-san..." followed the burnt orange haired one. Ever since the day when Ichigo called Hikari to the rooftop, the whole class had already assumed that the two were having a kind of relationship. Besides, whenever the orange haired teenager was around, the light-brown haired one always being so clumsy. Since no one know the incident at the rooftop, they, once again, assumed that Hikari was just being shy towards her 'beloved one'._

_###_

_As the two teenagers arrived at the rooftop, the orange haired one turned his body and grabbed the other's shoulders using his hands. There was a short pause before finally he spoke, "I...I've been holding this feeling for a long time..."_

'_Th-this is...no! I won't make a same mistake,' thought she._

"_I..."_

'_But come to think of it. He did say that he couldn't get me out of his mind, but that's normal right? I mean, I __**was**__ a new student. Besides, after all happened the day before, it's impossible not to be curious, right? But this time, he even said that he couldn't hold his feeling when there was nothing happened recently,' she thought, unaware of the incident happened yesterday._

"_Uhh...yes?" she finally replied. A hint of blush could be seen on her timid face._

"_I...want to be stronger," said the orange haired one._

'…_not again,' the girl sweat dropped. A second later, her eyes' color changed into a crimson one, though, Ichigo didn't really care about this._

"_Ah…it looks like you have a great talent at making people misunderstood…" said the crimson eyed one, sweat dropped._

"_Misunderstood?" inquired the other one._

"…_nevermind," uttered her, "So, you want to be stronger, right?"_

"_Yes," replied the orange haired one, briefly._

"_Then, the question is, what will you do with those powers?" inquired the other one._

"_I…" mumbled Ichigo, followed by a short pause, "…I want to protect everyone. I want to protect my friends: Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Rukia. I want to protect the world. I want to protect…you"_

"_I think I don't need to be protected…" responded the light-brown haired one as she let out a faint smile._

"_Uhh…guess you're right…" mumbled the other one, sweat dropped. There was, again, a short pause before finally the female spoke up._

"…_are you sure?"_

"_Huh? About what? Retrieving my powers back?" inquired the confused teenager, "If that's the case, then, of course I am."_

"_You know, a great power comes with a great responsibility. Your power may endanger people around you. Even the innocent ones could be involved. Do you_ ─"

"_My answer's still a yes," said the orange haired one with eyes full of determination._

"_Hmph…very well then. There is only a way to restore your former powers," explained the crimson eyed one. There was another short pause before she continued, calmly, "The only way to retrieve your powers is to…"_

"_To what?" inquired the curious youngster._

"_...to kill me, your watcher."_

_The amber eyes widened as their owner spoke, tremblingly, "W-what?"_

"_I think I was clear enough," she replied, "I will not be surprised if your grades are not good."_

"_S-shut up! My grades aren't bad you know?" exclaimed the other youngster._

"_Well, that __**is **__surprising."_

"_Grrh, just shut up already," said him. Again, another pause occurred before he spoke, "What?"_

"_You told me to shut up, no?" replied the crimson eyed one casually._

"_Well that's..."_

"_Hmph," responded the other teenager, laughing._

'_She...laughed?' thought Ichigo. A second later, his mind went blank, the only thing he did was staring at the smiling face._

'_What the hell am I thinking?'_

"_Well, I will repeat once more," she began speaking, "The only way to retrieve your powers is to kill me."_

_The amber eyes, again, widened, "W-what? But why?"_

"_Well, since I am your watcher, I am the one who keep your powers as the part of our agreement. To –"_

"_Then, why don't you just give them back?" interfered the orange haired one._

_The light-brown haired one, then, sighed, "...It is not possible. To ensure that our clients do not break the agreement, we, the watchers, are taught to seal – in this case, your powers – within our soul. Once something fused with one's soul, it will be impossible to separate them," she explained, "...though, miraculously, That Man actually did it once."_

"_That Man?"_

"_Aizen."_

"_I see...wait. Why did he do that?" inquired Ichigo, "Don't tell me – "_

"_Yes, the Hougyoku," replied Hikari, briefly. The amber eyes, again, widened in disbelief, followed by a silence for a minute or two. None of them said a thing._

"_Well, I guess that you cannot decide now," the crimson eyed one finally spoke, "I will give you a day to think about it. Come to me once you have the answer."_

"_..."_

"_Well, I am going to go back to the class, the first lesson must have been begun by now," uttered the girl as she opened the steel door. And there she went to the class, leaving the orange haired one alone with two choices: to regain his powers by killing her or to abandon them._

**End of Flashback**

"What are you thinking about, Kurosaki-kun?" inquired a voice from the direction of the window.

"Baka! It's obvious isn't it? It's – wait," uttered him as he turned his head towards the window. Two pairs of amber colored eyes met each other.

"Oh, hey Hikari. You scared me..."

There were three black dots in the air before the male one suddenly mumbled in astonishment, "You're...flying..."

His slow response successfully made the female one sweat dropped. "You sure are slow, huh?" she said.

"S-shut up!" exclaimed he, "What if somebody sees you like this?"

"No need to worry," she explained, "I've set a barrier..."

The orange haired youngster, then, got up and opened the window, "Here, come in."

"Y-yes..." the light-brown haired one replied as she did so. Ichigo then closed the window and told her to sit on the bed. He then sat on the blue chair near the desk.

"So, what are you doing here?" inquired the male one.

"I...uh...just wanna talk with you..."

"About what?"

"Uhh...nothing," she replied.

"No...thing?" mumbled the other one, again, sweat dropped.

"I-I'm sorry, I'll go now."

"W-wait," uttered the orange haired one, "If you don't mind, I want you to tell me something."

"Y-yes?" she replied briefly.

"...what are you?"

"Uhh...pardon?"

"What are you?"

"Me?"

"Yep."

"Uhh...a human of course," she answered.

"I see...then what about the other you?" inquired the amber eyed one.

"Of course she is a human. Why is it?"

"Well, she can use some unique skills. So, I assumed that she isn't a human. Though, her skills are indeed not Shinigami's," he explained.

"I see. Well, we're not normal human though."

"What do you mean?" asked him.

"We, the watcher, or you can say, wizards, had been taught to use elemental spells since we were small. Besides, our spiritual pressure is basically higher than those normal ones," explained the girl.

"Elemental...spells?" inquired the other teenager.

"Uhh...how can I put this?" mumbled the light-brown haired one, "You see, I can float right? Why do you think I can do that?"

"I see, the wind."

"Yep," she replied cheerfully, "And a barrier I set a while ago was just a bending of light."

"I see..." nodded the orange haired one.

"My other self, however, is a special one," she continued.

"Special?"

"Yes. Well, besides the elements, we could also use time spells. Time spells are the lost spell. They consumed their user's time in exchange of their tremendous power. Those who can use this kind of spell are very rare. You can even count their number by using your hands," she explained.

"So, she can use those spells?" inquired Ichigo

"Yep!" she replied, again, cheerfully, "You're not that slow after all..."

"Geez. Well, thanks anyway," uttered the strawberry.

"You're welcome," the light-brown haired one retorted, smiling, "Ah! It's already this late..."

"I'll walk you home," said the other one as he stood up.

"T-thank you..."

"No problem."

###

The day had changed. The school bell rung for the first time, indicating the start of the lesson. Hearing the bell, the students returned to their respective seats. The two amber eyed youngsters, however, were nowhere to be found. That time, the male one was lying on the nearby riverbank, looking up at the blue sky while the female one was right behind him, doing the same thing. Ichigo, though, didn't realize her presence.

"So, have you found your answer?" inquired the female one.

Nevertheless, the male one sighed, _'What a troublesome thing. I can't even get enough sleep. Moreover, maybe because I've been thinking about it for the whole time, I begin to hear things,' _he then sighed again, _'I can even hear her voice...'_

"Well, you are not hearing things..." said the crimson eyed midget.

"W-whoa!"

"As slow as usual..." she sighed, "Well, it looks like that you have not decided yet."

"Well, that's – "

"If I was you, I would have done anything to get my powers back. I would have done anything to protect my beloved one," interrupted the girl. There was a short pause of thinking.

"But – "

"You do not have to worry about me. It is my job to assist you though..." uttered the girl, "I was already prepared for this kind of thing."

Again, another short pause occurred. Ichigo had a very serious look on his face as he uttered, "...then, I know I'll regret this, but it's a no."

"A...no?"

"Yes."

"But why? I told you not to worry about me..."

"Well, I, too, will do anything to protect my friends," uttered the orange haired one.

"Then, why?" inquired her.

Ichigo then let out a faint smile as he said, "Do you think I'll kill my own friend? To kill you, whom I've swore to protect? Hell no..."

"...then, what about Aizen? With your current power, you will not even be able to scratch him, you know?" inquired the crimson eyed teenager.

"Well, all roads lead to Rome, right?" said the male teenager as he let out another faint smile, "I'll find a way, even if I'll regret this later, but I **will **be stronger."

"...hmph," mumbled the female one, smiling, "What an interesting answer. Well, you passed."

"Uhh...passed?"

"P-a-s-s-e-d."

"I know that," growled the orange haired one, "What I want to know is what you mean by 'passed'?"

The light-brown haired one giggled and then said, "Congratulation, you've passed the test."

"Test? What test?"

The Hikari named girl sighed, again, "As slow as usual..."

"S-shut up! Just tell me what test already!"

"Don't you realize that I've been testing you this whole time?" she began explaining, "The choices I gave you were just a test to see your intention. If you decided to kill me, I would have killed you first. Those who would do anything for powers will just put the other in danger – "

"**What the hell? Do you know how worried I was? Don't play with people's feeling! Dammit...**" exclaimed the orange haired one, successfully startled the light-brown haired one.

"...I think I've gone too far. I'm sorry..." said the crimson eyed one with an apologetic expression on her face.

"...I think I've gone too far too. I wasn't supposed to yell at you..." mumbled the amber eyed teenager.

"Well, enough for that. Now, I'll give you the real test; the test to retrieve your powers."

"I'm listenin'"

"You...must die," uttered Hikari. The amber eyes widened.

"I must...die?"

"Well, just kidding," said the midget, smiling, "Though, not all of it is a joke."

"Damn you," mumbled the teenager, "So, what's the test?"

"I will put you into an inactive state where you will not even breathe and sent you to your inner world. And during that time, you must retrieve your powers back," explained the crimson eyed one, "The time limit is a day."

"I see. By the way, what did you do to Aizen?" inquired the curious teenager.

"I...sealed him away using a time spell," uttered the female one.

Ichigo's heart pounded harder upon hearing those words, _'A time spell she said?'_

A slight change of expression occurred on the crimson eyed teenager's face. "Well, no need to worry about him; the spell is strong enough to keep him sealed for at least three months," she said as she let out a fake smile, "Now, get ready."

"What? Here?"

"Don't worry; I will take care of your body. Now, good night," uttered the light-brown haired girl as she cast another time spell towards Ichigo, successfully knocked him out.

* * *

**Translation  
Baka: **Idiot.

* * *

Well, another boring chapter I guess. ==a  
By the way, an E***** is going to appear soon xD  
Stay tuned~

Now, as usual, **review please.**

See ya.**  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry for the late update~ XD

**A/N: **I don't know Zangetsu's eye color. But there are some people who said that it was red. Could someone tell me what his eye color is? For now, please bear with red :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach in any way T_T

To the story...

* * *

**The Retrieval of The Powers**

"Ugh..." muttered the orange haired teenager, "Where...am I?"

He happened to wake up under a blue clouded sky, surrounded by countless buildings. Everything seemed normal before the strawberry tried to get up. Realizing something, he quickly got into his initial position, lying nervously on the building. From his current sight, it's just like a normal world with normal buildings, though, the number of the buildings made him uneasy, but when he got up, everything changed horizontally.

"What are you doing, Kurosaki Ichigo?" said a familiar voice.

'_That voice...I think I've heard it before...' _thought the lying teenager, ignoring the question.

"...You really don't remember huh?" continued the voice, "You can get up; you won't fall. Trust me..."

The orange haired one, however, stood still. He didn't move nor speak; all that he did was thinking. After several minutes of silence, the amber eyed one finally moved, trying to get up, of course, slowly and carefully. He somehow trusted the man's words, though, not entirely. It was more to his amazement, of course, after hard times of struggling against his fear of falling from the building, that he managed to stand on the building; facing the ground, though, he could barely see it, without falling.

"I told you not to fear. Don't you trust me?" said the voice.

Being curious, the 15 years old teenager turned his body towards the direction of the voice. His amber eyes widened upon seeing a figure in black long coat, standing on a flagpole. He had a long dark brown wavy hair with semi-transparent brown glasses. A sudden flow of memory, again, entered Ichigo's mind. He then muttered, "Old man...Zangetsu..."

The red eyes twitched as he uttered, "So you **do **remember me and this place..."

"Well, not until a moment ago..." replied the still confused teenager.

"I see..."

"So, you really are Zangetsu, right?"

"Who else could I be?"

"In that case, could you...please, restore my powers?"

"I can't do it. It's you who had thrown away your powers, so, it's you who must retrieve them back," explained the old man.

"But how? I can't even remember what my powers were like," replied the teenager, confused.

"Then make your body remember," uttered the old man as he took a sword, a giant kitchen knife actually, and dashed towards the orange haired teenager. Startled, the teenager barely dodged.

"W-what are you doing?" exclaimed the startled teenager.

"There are two ways to restore your powers. The first one is to make your body remember; like I've said before, when the other one is to make me submit to you," he explained, "One way another, we'll end up fighting. Now, take out your sword and fight me."

'_Even if he said "take out", I don't have any sword to begin with,' _he thought, _'How am I supposed to take out something that doesn't exist in the first place?'_

The old man, however, dashed towards the younger one and swung his giant kitchen knife horizontally, followed by a dodge from the younger one.

"Hey, that's not fair! At least gimme a sword..." said the orange haired one.

"...you want a sword? Then take whichever you like," he replied. A second later, hundreds of swords of different kinds and shapes appeared, out of nowhere of course, successfully amazed the youngster. The old man, again, launched another attack towards him. Being startled, he randomly grabbed a sword near him and swung it in order to block the attack. As soon as the swords clashed, however, the one he picked up earlier suddenly cracked and shattered into pieces, letting the other sword to leave a shallow wound on the teenager's right shoulder.

"W-what? This is..." muttered the teenager as he covered the half left of his face using his left hand.

"Yes, this is the test I gave you when you were about to achieve your Bankai," the old man uttered.

The amber eyed teenager let out a faint smile and said, "It's easy then. I'll just have... to..." His mind went blank and his amber eyes widened as he muttered, again, "I..."

"Pathetic," said the old man.

"I...damn! Why? Why can't I remember the most important thing? God dammit!" he groaned in disappointment. Ignoring the teenager, Zangetsu launched another attack, followed by the instantaneous block by the teenager, though again, the sword he randomly picked shattered into pieces. And so the whole thing – the attack, the block, and, of course, the shattering – happened again and again **and **again.

###

"Yep, this'll do it," murmured the amber eyed girl proudly after she laid an orange haired body on his bed. She managed to carry the body by using the air, of course, after setting up a barrier before. She then entered the orange haired teenager's room; the same way as she did before, and laid the body. Keeping the barrier set up, she sat on the floor beside the bed.

"Using time spells sure is tiring..." she mumbled before gradually lost her consciousness.

###

And now, about eighteen hours had passed. The midget was still sleeping beside the blue sheeted bed while the substitute shinigami, _proudly_, renewing his "sword-shattering" record. Nothing much had changed in the past 5 hours besides of the increase of the number of his wound, though; none was deep enough to threaten his life.

"Damn! What the hell with these freakin' swords?" groaned the teenager. The old man, however, didn't do anything besides launching his hundredths attack towards the poor teenager. Again, another sword shattered. Nothing had changed in the past 5 hours. And again, another attack was launched. Nevertheless, instead of randomly grabbed a sword, Ichigo chose to dodge the attack and run, making some space from the attacker, though, it's proven to be fruitless. Zangetsu kept his distance close by shunpoing and landed right in front of Ichigo. The old man, however, stopped moving; he didn't swing his giant kitchen knife anymore or dash towards the poor teenager.

"...you're pathetic, Ichigo..." uttered the old man.

"What did you say? Well, how can I fight you with these...useless swords?" he protested, "At least give me Zangetsu..."

"You want this?" the old man replied as he lifted his right arm and hold the giant kitchen knife horizontally, "Then take this."

With the said, the old man threw Zangetsu towards the youngster. The orange haired one let out a faint smile. "The real fight begins now," he uttered as he dashed towards the old man and swung his sword vertically. The old man, again, didn't do anything; he didn't shunpo away or picked a random sword. Instead, he lifted his left arm. Unexpectedly, as soon as the giant sword touched the left hand, it, again, shattered into pieces.

"W-what the?" muttered the widened amber eyes' owner.

"...you know? Swords with no master can no longer show their true powers," uttered the old man. Upon hearing those words, Ichigo's expression changed. His amber eyes turned clearer.

'_I-I understand now,' _he thought,"_No matter how great the sword I picked earlier, if it's not my sword – no. If it's not zangetsu, it'll be just an ordinary piece of sharp metal. If it's not my partner whom I've been fighting alongside with, it'll mean nothing. And I've...thrown away that Zangetsu. I've thrown away the powers he gave me. I'm...not worthy of retrieving this powers of mine.'_

As the teenager sank into his deep thought, a candid light swathed the piece of giant kitchen knife on his right hand. Miraculously, the light then disappeared, revealing a normal zanpakuto, though, it's black. All of it was black. The hilt, even the sword itself was pitch black.

"T-this is..."

"Looks like you've understand," the old man smiled, "Don't ever think about throwing away your powers for the second time because the time you do that, I won't lend you my powers anymore."

"...thank you, old man Zangetsu..." the orange haired one mumbled.

"Now, let's continue the fight," uttered the black coated man as he summoned another giant kitchen knife out of nowhere.

"No need to continue," said the teenager, smiling, as he lifted his right arm, holding his zanpakuto horizontally.

"Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu"

The wind gusted around the teenager, creating a thick layer of dust while, at the same time, a vast amount of reiatsu was being released. In no time, the layer was blown away by the reiatsu released by the orange haired one, revealing him in a long-sleeved, ankle-length black coat shihakusho with red lining that was closed at his chest, then left to flare out into ragged ends, much like that of Zangetsu himself. His giant kitchen knife now shrank into a black daito with a swastika-shaped guard and a short chain dangled on the base of the hilt.

"Hmm...good job I must say," uttered the old man, "Congratulation on achieving your bankai for the second time."

The two beings laughed merrily, though, not so long after, the atmosphere changed dramatically as another voice, a vicious one, joined them.

"Don't be such a happy-dumbass just 'coz you've retrieve your freakin' bankai, King," said the owner of the voice as he smiled menacingly and threw the giant kitchen knife towards Ichigo. As a response, the orange haired one shunpoed away, successfully dodged the reversed-in-color Zangetsu.

"You're...Shiro?" mumbled the teenager.

"Don't call me with that fuckin' name, dumbass!" protested the white being. He was Hollow Ichigo, a perfect replica of the strawberry, though, he's white. H his hairs, his skin, even his shihakuso was all white. His sclera, though, were pitch black, when his irises were dark gold. Just like his name, Hollow Ichigo was a hollow born from a near hollowfication process during Ichigo's training to retrieve his shinigami powers. Ichigo preferred to call him Shiro though.

"Done with the old man?" inquired the albino one.

"I guess..." muttered the orange haired one.

"Well then, Ichigo, I'll take my leave here..." uttered the old man.

"What? But why?"

"...sleep"

"Uhh...sorry?"

"I want to sleep."

"What? But it's still noon. It's not even 1 yet," protested the surprised teenager.

"Well, sleepin' is that old man's hobby, yanno?" interrupted the dark gold eyed one.

"...pardon?"

"Are you freakin' deaf? Sleepin' is his hobby," repeated Shiro.

"Uhh...wow..."

"...well, there's nothin' interesting here, so it's not a bad hobby I guess..." mumbled the white one. With that said, the old man shunpoed away, searching a peaceful place to sleep, leaving the sweat-dropped orange haired teenager with the white haired one.

"Now, enough for the chit-chat, you're goin' down, King!" exclaimed the albino as he, again, threw Zangetsu towards the strawberry, though, it was proven to be fruitless.

"You know what? I think it's impossible to defeat a bankai with only a shikai," uttered Ichigo.

"Heh! That sounds to me that you want me to use my bankai."

"Well, it is."

"Yanno what? You'll regret it soon enough," exclaimed the hollow with a menacing smile on his face.

"Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu"

It was a complete replica of Ichigo's bankai, though, again, it's all white. Even the daito was white. Without any warning, the white one dashed towards the black one and swung his white daito vertically. Nevertheless, the black one successfully dodged the attack with an amazing speed and launched a counterattack; he swung his black daito diagonally and successfully left a wound on the hollow's chest.

"Not bad, Ki – "

Before the albino finished his words, Ichigo had already shunpoed towards his hind and did another sword-swinging, though this time; it was perfectly dodged by the hollow.

"Talk less, do more."

"Fine, whatever."

Shiro then dashed towards the other teenager and swung his sword, only to be blocked by Ichigo. He, however, smiled menacingly despite of his failure.

"Getsuga Tensho..." mumbled the hollow. A black, red outlined condensed spiritual energy was blasted through the white daito, severely hurt Ichigo and made him planted on a skyscraper nearby.

"D-damn!"

"'s that all you got?" razzed the hollow.

"Ugh," groaned the shinigami, "I'm not finished yet."

"Well, I just wanna let ya know," uttered the hollow as he, for no reason, let out a menacing smile, "There are two interestin' facts. The first one is that if ya failed to retrieve your powers in time – which is 24 hours – I, your power source, 'll take control of your body. Second, the time here flows six times slower than in the real world. Now, how long d'ya think you've spent with that freakin' old man?"

'_S-six times he said?' _thought the shocked teenager, _'It's impossible! I've spent about three hours fighting with the old man. Plus, it's been like an hour since then. It's...'_

"It seems like ya only got three minutes to defeat me, King!" said he before he laughed menacingly, "Well, ya know what I'm goin' to do with your freakin' body, don't ya?"

The orange haired one, without being realized, successfully shunpoed, landed right in front of the hollow and strangled him. He then placed his black daito in front of the white neck.

"Sorry, no time to play with you," uttered the darkened amber eyed one. A black condensed spiritual pressure blasted as the teenager mumbled a "Getsuga Tensho", annihilating the hollow, though, still, couldn't completely get rid of it.

###

"Ugh..." groaned the orange haired teenager as he opened his amber eyes. The first thing he saw was a worried face really close to his.

"Thanks God! You finally woke up!" said the now cheerful voice, "Geez, that's close you know?"

"Whoa!" exclaimed the male teenager as he shoved the face away.

"That's hurt..." said the light-brown haired one as she rubbed her nose.

"That's too close, baka!" protested the orange haired one.

"Well, I was worried so..." muttered the female with a hint of blush on her face.

The amber eyed male then sighed, "Well, never – "

Just before he could finish his words, a vast amount of reiatsu was being released. Even the most insensitive person in this world, Ichigo, could feel it. A second later, the closet door was opened, revealing the midget.

"Uhh...Ichigo?" muttered the midget.

"Yes?"

"And uhh...Hikari?"

"Uh uh..." replied the light-brown haired midget.

"...well, sorry for interrupting you two. By the way, Ichigo, where were you yesterday?" inquired the black haired one.

"Uhh...the reiatsu, please?"

"Oh, you're right..." uttered the violet eyed midget, "This reiatsu – "

"Damn! Not again! Ughh..." groaned Ichigo as he put his right hand on his face. It was another headache. This time, however, it was longer than before.

"Ulqui – "

Before he could finish his word, he passed out from his painful headache, startled the two other female teenagers.

"H-hoi, Ichigo!" exclaimed the violet eyed midget, worried. The reiatsu, however, mysteriously vanished as the teenager passed out.

* * *

**Translation  
Shunpo: **Flash ste**p  
Daito: **Japanese long sword**  
Reiatsu: **Spiritual pressure

**

* * *

**Once again, sorry for the late update XD  
And uh...E***** is not an Ending...

Btw, I've got a little anouncement here...  
If any of you named Kaitlynn Samehada, please send me a message...  
Pretty please?

Mind to review? XD

See ya.


	10. Chapter 10

First of all, I apologize for the late update. I'm really, really, really sorry. XD  
Thank you for the readers and reviewers ^^

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach...yet. LOL

Now, to the story...  
Enjoy.

**

* * *

The Espada**

"_Are you...afraid of me?" inquired the man._

"_...I'm not afraid. I'm...not afraid," answered the woman. The man then reached out to the woman with his right hand._

"_Now...I see. Her heart...was right...," mumbled the man as he let out a contented smile which is rarely seen on his teal tear marked face. The woman then did the same thing; reaching out to him, though, before their hands met, the man dissolved into ash, blown by the wind._

'_...In my hands'_

* * *

The amber eyes opened. The owner then covered his right eye with his right hand as he panted hardly.

"...Ulquiorra..." he mumbled. The teenager, however, was dragged back into reality by a voice, a cheerful one, that echoed in his room.

"I-Ichigo..." the light-brown haired one mumbled, though, she followed his mumbling by exclaiming, "Ichigo! Thanks God! Do you have any idea how worried I am? Geez..."

"Uh...sorry," replied the other teenager, "How long have I been out?"

"Nearly two days..." replied the girl. There was a brief pause before finally she spoke again.

"Are you...okay? You look so...pale..." inquired the concerned girl as she headed towards Ichigo with a bowl of porridge on her right hand.

"Uhh...yes...of course. I'm perfectly fine..." replied the orange haired one as he let out a fake smile.

'_It was...Ulquiorra, wasn't it? I'll never forget that incident. Damn! It's my entire fault! If only I was able to control my inner hollow...dammit!' _thought the male teenager before the girl, Hikari, poked him with a bowl of porridge. It took one...two...three seconds before finally a groan can be heard.

"That's hot dammit! What in the hell are you doing?" exclaimed the teenager.

"Whoa...that's slow..." mumbled the astonished teenager, "See? You even start spacing out. What's wrong with you?"

"It's...nothing," answered the orange haired one with a regretful expression on his face.

"...if you don't want to tell me, it's fine. Just tell me when you feel like to," said the light-brown haired one as she smiled gently, "Here, eat this. You must be hungry right?"

The girl then handed the bowl to Ichigo, though, he didn't show any will of eating it.

"You'll get sick if you don't eat anything," said the girl as she started blushing, "...or...do you want me to feed you?"

"...WHAT! You're kidding right?" said the other teenager nervously.

"Hmph...of course I am. You really are fast at this kind of thing huh?" replied the giggling girl, "Anyway, what happened to you?"

"Well, it seems like I've regained my memories..."

"...all of it?"

"Yeah..."

"That's...weird. You're not supposed to regain your memories until I give them back to you..." uttered the girl, "Well, that's not important. So, what do you remember about Aizen? Like his loyal servant maybe?"

There was a severe change of expression on Ichigo's face upon hearing those words. His skin even looked paler than before and his amber eyes filled with regret. Then, the awkward silence fell on the room.

'_Uh-oh...looks like I've just stepped on a mine...' _thought the panicking girl before she finally said, "W-well, i-it's okay if you...sorry. I should've not asked that..."

"...Do you know Espada?" asked the orange haired one, breaking the awkwardness.

"H-huh? It's the Spanish for...sword...right?" murmured the light-brown haired one.

"That's not what I meant..." replied the other teenager as he sweatdropped, "Espada is a group of ten strongest arrancar, hand-picked and ranked by Aizen himself, and is as strong as the captains."

"W-what? The captains? There are even ten of them..." mumbled the girl as her amber eyes widened.

"...yes. They were ranked from 0 to 9. The only Espadas I know are Grimmjow, the sixth, Nnoitra, the fifth, Yammy, the strongest, and..." Ichigo paused before he finally continued, "...and Ulquiorra, the fourth."

"Ulquiorra? I think I heard you saying that name right before you passed out..." said the girl.

"...I did," muttered the amber eyed teenager, "It's him."

"Uhh...what?"

"It's him, dammit! It's his freakin' reiatsu! I'll never forget it..." said the male, half yelling.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"It was him. It was him who released the reiatsu before I passed out...it was...him."

"Wait. You mean he was in the real world?" inquired the girl.

"...unfortunately, yes."

"That's...impossible..." mumbled the shocked girl, "But how? From what I've been told, Aizen isn't supposed to move until the incidence at the Soukyoku Hills occurred. Plus, the other me managed to seal him away right? There's no way for him to do all these; even to simply form the Espada is impossible."

"You're right...it's impossible for him to – wait. Who told you that?" inquired the orange haired one.

"M-my childhood friend did...is something matters?"

"...look, I've never told anybody about that. The only ones who knew about that are only the shinigamis, Aizen and his subordinates themselves, and us; those who came to save Rukia. The shinigamis shouldn't even know about your clan, since I've been searching through their documents and found nothing about you. That left only...Aizen," he explained, "Damn! How come I didn't think about this back then? Dammit!"

"W-what? What are you talking about?"

"...Aizen...he...might have made a contact with that friend of yours before I came to your place. The worst case, he might even have made a contract with her –"

"It's a him," interrupted the girl.

"Why you – geez. Fine, him. Say, is it just you who know that the time is being reversed?"

"Nope. Those who are my kind know since we aren't bound by the time we controlled."

"...this is not good," mumbled the orange haired one, "For god's sake, this is not good, damn!"

"C-calm down..." uttered the light-brown haired one.

"**How am I supposed to –**"

Before the amber eyed one could finish his protest, the now crimson eyed teenager casted a spell on him, successfully putting him into another deep sleep. She then sighed, "...shut up will you? Being agitated will just worsen the situation, baka."

###

"Ugh..." moaned the teenager as he moved his left hand to turn off the alarm. It really was a peaceful morning since no yell was heard, no door was thrown off from its hinge, and no window was shattered, it was like a miracle. The former shinigami was asked to go to the nearby town regarding his job. There was a hospital that was running out of medical personnel, so they ask him to go there, leaving his two daughters alone with their big brother.

"Finally, a morning without any –"

"Ichiiiiigooo~!" exclaimed a light-brown haired girl as she "opened" the door, and later, spoke in a sweet voice, "Mornin'! Hehe…"

"W-what the…" muttered the shocked teenager.

"Well, it's not like I want to yell and break the door though; your father told me to do so when he was away…" explained the girl.

"Uhh…my father? How do you know him anyway?"

"It's a secret!" replied the amber eyed one with a cheerfully.

The other teenager then sighed, "Then, I'll change the question. Why are you here?"

"Well, to do your father request, of course," answered the amber eyed midget.

"Geez, that old man…"

"Anyway, get ready, or you'll be late for school," said the girl.

"Late? But it's only – damn! It's already this late?" cried the other teenager as he jumped out from his white sheeted bed and rushed towards the wardrobe and took his uniform, "What're you doing? Get out so I can change!"

"S-sorry!" she apologized, soon followed by her leave.

'_Geez. Anyway, it's been a week since I felt __**his **__reiatsu but nothing happened," _thought the orange haired teenager as he changed into his school uniform, _'Was it really…my imagination? But that's _–'

"Ichigoo, I'm going to leave you," exclaimed the amber eyed girl from downstairs.

"Okay, okay, I'm going! Geez…" he replied as he ran past his two sisters, "I'm goin', Karin, Yuzu."

###

"So, what happened?" inquired the orange haired one as he walked casually.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked the light-brown haired one back.

"You came to my house on purpose right? Don't tell me…"

"Nothing special, really. I was just do what your father told me to," answered the girl.

"W-what? So you were serious about it?"

"Of couse I was!" she said as she protruded her tongue and later let out a smile.

"…you've changed," mumbled the orange haired teenager.

"Hmm?"

"You've changed. You used to be one clumsy, shy, and reticent girl, but now…" uttered he.

"Uhh…well…about that, there's a reason behind it. Haha…" replied the girl as she tapped her head with her right hand and smiled.

"A rea –"

"Hey, let's race. Who gets to the school first is the winner!" uttered the enthusiastic girl as she started running.

"Ch-chotto ma –"

Ichigo's words are interrupted by the release of a vast amount of reiatsu. The culprit was, unmistakably, the same guy from last week.

'_T-this is…Ulquiorra?' _thought the teenager which soon was followed by an exclamation, "Damn! At the time like this! Tch…"

The orange haired teenager then took out a green colored pill from his right pocket, rubbed it against his shirt, and swallowed it. A second later he was already in his spiritual body, separated from his physical one.

"Oi, Kon! Go to school and don't do anything stupid, got it?" exclaimed the substitute shinigami as he flied away.

"Aye sir!" said the Kon-called one, though, he later let out a suspicious smile.

"O-oi, wait for me, Ichigo!" cried the light-brown haired one as she followed the orange haired one.

###

A substitute shinigami was seen to be jumping from a rooftop to another at an unbelievable speed.

"O-oi, Ichigo! Wait up!" exclaimed the amber eyed midget who ran on the street below, trying to catch up with the shinigami.

Ignoring the girl, Ichigo was lost in his own thought, _'Damn! What is __**he **__doing here? I must get there as fast as I – wait. Come to think about it. Do I...know where he is?' _He then sweatdropped and began grumbling,_ 'Geez, where is that rabbit maniac?'_

"Rukia went to Soul Society yesterday, remember?" uttered the now-crimson eyed girl tonelessly. A second later, unfortunately for the strawberry, a layer of wind appeared before him, blocking his path. The orange haired teenager then, ungracefully, bumped on the layer and, again, ungracefully, fell onto a rooftop.

"O-ouch...what's that for?" protested the shinigami which led towards a quick reply from the girl.

"For leaving me behind and not listened to me," she said as she shot a death glare towards the poor teenager.

"U-uhh...s-sorry...ma'am," he mumbled.

"...pardon?" said the other one as she let out a gentle, yet ghastly smile.

"N-nothing, Haha..ha..." the orange haired one replied briefly as he forced a smile.

"...anyway, we must hurry."

"R-right. So, do you know where he is?" asked the male one, successfully made the girl sighed.

"Of course, baka!" the girl then, again, sighed, "I won't believe that there is someone like you if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

"S-shut up!" cried the shinigami, "Let's go."

###

"So...this is the place...right?" inquired the orange haired teenager as he landed on the park outside the town

"...apparently, yes."

"...then why there isn't even any freakin' soul here?" uttered the amber eyed one with an unusual tone as he tried to hold his rage.

"...don't ask me."

"Don't give that! Geez..."

"...sorry."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry," she repeated with a regretful look on her face.

"W-well, It's not that I'm angry or – argh! Just forget it," uttered the other one.

"If you two want to act love-birds, don't do it at public places," said a familiar voice.

'_T-this voice...it's him. It's him! It's Ulquiorra!'_

"Long time no see, Kurosaki Ichigo," said the teal tear marked one, as usual, vacantly. The owner of the voice was a slender man with a melancholic look, fairly short, messy black hair, pale white skin, and a pair of teal colored eyes.

"Hmph...so, I was right," mumbled the orange haired one, "Ulquiorra Schiffer..."

"...so, you remember my name," said the teal eyed one.

"I'll...never forget you..." muttered the sad looking amber eyed one as he clenched his right hand, "Never..."

There was a slight pause before the pale one finally spoke as he unsheathed his katana from its green scabbard, "...anyway, let's finish our fight."

"W-what?" the orange haired one said, "I...have no reason to fight you. Back then in Hueco Mundo, I must fight you in order to save Orihime. But now..."

"...then die," muttered the black haired one as he dashed towards Ichigo at an unbelievable speed.

"Ichigo!" exclaimed the light-brown haired one as she pushed the orange haired one away.

* * *

**Translation  
Reiatsu: **Spiritual pressure  
**Baka: **Idiot  
**Chotto matte: **Wait

* * *

Ulquiorra is here! Yay! XD

**Announcement~ =p**  
If any of you named Kaitlynn Samehada, please send me a message...  
Pretty please? XD

Uhh...do you mind hitting this review button below? =p

Ja ne.


	11. Chapter 11

Again, I'm sorry for the late update. I reall am :(

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach.  
...but maybe I'll try to. =p

To the story. xD

**

* * *

The Battle**

"Ichigo!" cried the crimson eyed one as she pushed Ichigo away. The shinigami, being pushed away by the girl, managed to dodge the two curved extensions guarded katana.

"W-wait, Ulquiorra! I don't wanna fight you!" protested the substitute shinigami. Nevertheless, the stoic faced one ignored his protest and swung his green handled katana horizontally. The shinigami, then, dodged the attack and jumped back, made some space between them.

"...Is it because of this woman?" uttered the messy black haired one, finally, as he turned his body and faced the girl.

"...w-what do you mean?" asked the shinigami

"Is this woman's presence annoying you? Are you afraid that she might not be able to stand your reiatsu? Are you afraid that you might hurt her?" uttered the slender one. He then lifted his right arm and gripped his katana tightly, which successfully widened the amber eyes, and mumbled, "Then I'll –"

"**No, don't! Stop!**" exclaimed the orange haired one. Ignoring the shout, the pale skinned one swung his katana vertically, intended to cut down the crimson eyed midget before him into two. The said midget then tried to dodge the deadly assault by moving her upper body to the left, though; it was proven to be fruitless. The teal eyed one change his slash direction and successfully severely injured the girl.

"Hi..ka..ri..." mumbled the darkened amber eyed one as his eyes widened upon seeing the blood soaked midget lying on the ground in front of the pale skinned one. His face turned pale. Red liquid dripped from the green handled katana before the arrancar finally removed it by swinging his katana in the air, splattered the liquid on the ground.

"_...won't...give...you"_ mumbled Ichigo. The slender one, however, didn't say a word, instead; he turned his body. Unable to hold his rage anymore, the amber eyed one cried as he unsheathed his katana, "**I WON'T FORGIVE YOU, ULQUIORRA!**"

"Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu!"

A vast amount of black coloured reiatsu with red outline was released, layered the orange haired one as he released his bankai. The arrancar then pointed his green handled katana towards Ichigo and uttered, "In that case, I won't hold back any longer. Enclose, Murciéla – "

"Die," mumbled the shinigami who managed to land behind the arrancar without being noticed as he swung his black daito diagonally. In response, the pale skinned one turned his body and tried to block the attack with his katana. Unfortunately for the pale skinned one, he couldn't make it in time. The slash left a shallow diagonal wound on pale his chest.

After jumping backwards, Ulquiorra then said as he touch his wound with his left hand, "No mercy huh?"

"**Shut up and die!**" cried the shinigami as he dashed towards the arrancar and swung his swastika guarded daito horizontally. Unfortunately for him, the black haired one managed to block the attack using his katana and made some space between them. The teal eyes, however, widened as the katana cracked from the clashing. A second later, not wanted to lose so easily, he pointed his katana towards Ichigo.

"Enclose, Murciélago."

At the speed of light, the substitute shinigami dashed towards the arrancar, trying to stop him from releasing his zanpakuto, though, unfortunately, he was late. A massive green outlined black reiatsu was released by the teal eyed one. About one fourth of it encircled him, when the rest fell as green rain. Ignoring the massive reiatsu, Ichigo gripped his zanpakuto tightly and released gigantic amount of reiatsu before finally mumbled, "Getsuga Ten –"

"Where are you aiming at?" muttered the black haired one, who was already in front of the orange haired one, without being realized, of course, as he grabbed the shinigami's head and crushed it to the ground. The teal eyed one now gained a pair of giant black bat wings and the remains of his hollow mask centered atop his head, with two large horns extended outward to the sides towards to the front. His used to be teal tear marks now turned black and his black fingernails increased in length. His clothing became more fitting and closed at the top, more like a robe towards the bottom.

"D-damn..." mumbled the orange haired one as he tried to get up, though, his effort was fruitless; Ulquiorra stepped on his chest to prevent him from doing so. Showing no mercy, the now-black tear marked one generated a green javelin made of solidified energy. He then pointed the javelin towards the shinigami's head and swung his javelin, trying to stab the shinigami. Unfortunately for him, Ichigo managed to ward the javelin and kicked him on his stomach, causing him to be thrown several meters away.

The shinigami then got up with his sword as a lever, and uttered, "You haven't changed a bit." He then placed his right hand in front of his face. As the arrancar had expected, red outlined black reiatsu was gathered in front of the shinigami's face, formed an oval shaped condensed reiryoku. The teenager then pulled his hand downwards, as if he was donning a mask, revealing a menacing skull like white mask with four thick black stripes emerged from the eye-holes; two of them disappeared into both sides of the lower jaw when the rest travelled past the very top of the mask.

"Putting on your mask huh? Don't you remember how easily it shat –"

"...die," mumbled Ichigo with a vicious voice as he appeared behind the teal eyed one and launched another attack. In response, the arrancar turned his body and blocked the attack using his green energy javelin, though, being overpowered, he was pushed away by the force. To make it even worse, his highly condensed energy javelin was cracked upon the clashing.

'_W-what the...?' _thought the pale skinned one as his teal eyes widened, though, as usual, no expression was shown on his stoic face, _'When did he get this much power? Well, come to think of it. His mask do change, but I don't think that it'll affect his power this much; at least not that much that he can easily crack my javelin.'_

"Don't get shaken; don't drop your guard; stay fully alert; don't get distracted for a single moment," uttered the shinigami who was appeared to have landed behind his opponent, "That's what you told me to, remember?"

'_He's fast!' _thought the arrancar as he blocked another attack launched by the shinigami. This time, Ichigo managed to shatter the javelin. The black haired one, however, dispersed the half green javelin on his right hand and uttered, "I see. Your power has dramatically increased that I can't even scratch you in this form. In that case, I'll once again show you the true despair."

"Just die already! Getsuga Tensho!" exclaimed the orange haired one as he released a crescent moon like condensed reiryoku.

"...Resurrección, Segunda Etapa."

An immensely dense, green outlined black reiatsu was released, formed a wall around the espada and successfully blocked the crescent moon like attack directed to him. A second later, his right hand and left wing tore the wall apart, revealing his "true despair" form. His hollow mask remains turned into two long horns while he retained his giant black bat wings. His white coat was now gone; instead, his waist was covered by a black fur like thing, which also covered both his arms and legs while his hollow hole increased in size and dripped black, blood like liquid. His feet became like talons while his black fingers grew claw like extensions. He also grew a very long and thin black tail. His used-to-be-white sclera now turned into dark green while his irises turned into yellowish gold, similar to Ichigo's.

"Now, let's finish this..." uttered the espada. Nevertheless, giving no mercy, the shinigami, who was already behind the espada, swung his daito vertically. In response, the black haired one sonidoed away and landed on the ground nearby. He then, using both of his hands, concentrated his green coloured reiryoku in front of his pale chest. A second later, he moved his hands apart. In result, the green orb of reiryoku was like being pulled and turned into a lance shaped one. He then grabbed the green lance using his right hand

"Lanza del Relámpago..." mumbled the stoic faced, "You haven't forgot this green lance, have you?"

The shinigami, however, didn't say a word; instead, he dashed towards the espada. Though, before he got near his destination, the black haired one had already been behind him and mumbled, "...that's right. You don't remember a thing while you're in that form, do you?"

The espada then swung his green lance diagonally, which later was blocked by the black daito. However, his attack was too powerful for the shinigami to block that he threw away the shinigami to the ground. Seeing an opening, he lifted his left arms and pointed his index finger at the orange haired one. A second later, a small orb of green outlined black reiryoku appeared out of nowhere by the tip of his finger.

"Cero Oscuras," mumbled the espada as the small orb turned into a massive blast of green outlined black spiritual energy, directed at the poor teenager. Being not able to dodge, the orange haired one released an imperfect getsuga tenso.

The clashing of the two giant energies caused a great explosion. The layer of dust caused by the explosion was gradually lifted by the wind, revealing the broken masked shinigami. Blood dripped from his forehead. He breathed heavily. His long black robe only remained half.

"Looks like this battle will soon come to an end," uttered the stoic faced one. Surprisingly, the shinigami managed to catch his breath and suddenly released a tremendous amount of reiatsu.

"Yeah, with your death," uttered the orange haired one, "Be proud that you're the first one to see this form."

The shinigami, unexpectedly, after repaired his broken mask, stabbed his black daito to the ground right in front of him, put his right hand in front of his chest, and closed his eyes. Not so long after, a monstrous amount of red outlined black reiatsu was released by the teenager and swathed him.

'_Th-this is!' _thought the espada. Later, he, again, pointed his index finger on Ichigo.

"Heaaa –"

The shinigami's groan was stopped by the hit on his head. Losing his concentration, the reiatsu swathed him gradually faded away, revealing the shinigami in his bankai form. He then protested, "What the – "

"Do you want to destroy the whole town, baka?" said the cold voiced girl behind him.

"H-hikari...but how?" mumbled the bright amber eyed one with a surprised expression on his face, "Your wound – "

"What wound?" asked the light-brown haired one, "Oh, this is just red coloured water."

"I see...red coloured – what?" cried the surprised teenager.

Ignoring him, the crimson eyed one then spoke to the floating espada, "So, what are you going to do?"

"Hey, don't ignore me!" protested the orange haired teenager.

Again, ignoring the teenager, Ulquiorra replied, "...I guess I'll do it. Seeing his current power, it may be impossible for him to defeat that man, but seeing his potential, maybe we can find a way."

"Ooooiiii~! Don't ignore me you – "

"Bakudou 61: Rukujyoukourou."

A second later, six luminous bars successfully sealed the shinigami's movement. Ulquiorra then uttered, "Do not swing your sword pointlessly; you might hurt people around you."

"Ulquiorra, you –"

"Well, sorry for not telling you. He is a shinigami now; well, not purely a shinigami though. He still possesses his hollow powers," explained the light-brown haired one, "Ura –"

"Wait. A shinigami? But the hollow hole –"

"You mean this?" inquired the former espada as he took out a handkerchief from his pocket. He then rubbed his chest using the handkerchief and said, "Well, this is just black ink."

"What – black ink? Don't be – "

"See?" uttered Ulquiorra as he showed his not-so-pale chest, without any hollow hole of course.

"But...how?" mumbled the shinigami.

"You really never change," sighed the crimson eyed one, "Urahara Kisuke managed to purify his soul and sent him to the Soul Society. There, he entered a secret shinigami school, the one that wasn't known by Aizen. According to –"

"But wasn't his memory supposed to disappear when the time reversed?" interrupted the orange haired one.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, it's not good to interrupt people like that," uttered the stoic faced one, "Well, I would have lost my memories by now if that man didn't do anything."

"That man? You mean Urahara-san?"

"Indeed. He –"There was a slight pause. A slight fright expression could be seen on the teal eyed one's face, "...he separated my memories from my soul. He said that time reversing will only erase one's soul's memory. I don't really get it though, but thanks to him, I still retain my memories."

"I-I see..." muttered the teenager as he thought, _'How the hell did that old man know that the time was about to be reversed?'_

"Well, we'll talk about the detail later. For now, let's clean this commotion you two have caused," said the crimson eyed one.

"What? But I must go to school!" protested the shinigami.

"Ever heard of Kon?" uttered the girl.

"Geez..."

* * *

**Translation  
Reiatsu: **Spiritual pressure**  
Reiryoku: **Spiritual energy**  
Daito: **A long japanese sword**  
Baka: **Idiot

* * *

Thanks for reading~ xD  
Mind to review? Please? Pretty please? xD

Btw, I get kinda busy these days, so I might not be able to update the story as frequently as before T_T

**Announcement~ (again)**  
If any of you named Kaitlynn Samehada, please send me a message...  
Pretty please? XD

Stay tuned~ xD  
See ya in the next chapter


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